Bankers And Bums
by KingOfChalupa
Summary: For a long time, Rod has been plagued by his feelings for Nicky. Does he feel the same? Or will it be too late to salvage what they could have had?


The sky churned above the apartment complex of Avenue Q. Nicky was alone in Rods apartment, on the couch. Many things had caused him to think twice about his feelings for Rod. Is he straight? Is he gay? Nicky had no idea.

Rod had recently started talking in his sleep. Specifically, about his roommate. Rod had been moaning Nicky's name and saying little things like "I love you." Those little things surely caught the attention of the green puppet. He has had a crush on Rod ever since they met, but Rod always said things about how straight he was.

Because of that, Nicky has been saying that he himself was straight. I mean, he was into girls and all, but Rod? He was perfect to him. Because, God. He wanted to do nothing but run his hands through Rods hair and kiss him all over. But, he just had to be straight.

Nicky brushed his hair back with his hand and sighed. This had been the third day in a row where he had just sat at home, doing absolutely nothing but think about Rod. It's going to make the others question him soon. Only Trekkie stays inside for more than two days at a time. But the days have just been going by so quickly. He'd just get caught up in thinking, and Rod had been coming home later, recently. He's been working overtime and coming home at ten, which left Nicky alone for the whole day with nothing to do but think.

As for Rod, his days have just been stress, stress, and more stress all piled up on his desk. His boss has been making him work overtime, due to the lack of workers, and he's just been yelling at him over every little mistake. Everyone's been losing money and it's all Rods fault. That's all the boss does. Just blame Rod. Rod even stopped arguing because he's probably right. Who else is even working? Two more people. That's it. And it could possibly be their faults, could it? They're experienced in this field, of course it's his fault

Rods been thinking about stopping at a damned bar, but hell. By the time he'd get home, he'd have to go straight back to work. He's barely given any time to sleep and eat. Lunches have gone from a half hour to ten minutes. Then, getting home at ten gives him little time to eat and sleep. He'll probably have to send Nicky shopping soon, and God knows what he'd waste money on.

Suddenly, the apartment door burst open and Rod walked in with big bags under his eyes. And he definitely had seen better days. He reeked worse than Nicky, and that's saying something. He's developed stubble and looks like he hasn't had a good nights rest in a week. And God, it worried Nicky to see him like this. To see his hair all messed up, to see him thinner then a damn board, it hurt. But still, he put on his big, goofy smile and asked, "How was your day, Rod?

"Terrible, Nicky. What else is new?" He replied, sighing.

"What happened?" The green puppet questioned as he let his grin drop.

"So much money was lost today. Nearly every client lost some. If it weren't for the fact that everybody else is quitting, I would've been fired by now." Rod responded, his eyes slightly tearing up. "But it's fine. I just... Need some rest, right now. Goodnight."

"'Night Rod." Nicky said softly as Rod limped over to his room. As for the other, Nicky just curled up on the couch and went to sleep.

As the sun rose, rays of light cut through the windows and shined onto Nicky's face, waking him up. As he lifted himself off the couch, he saw that Rod was already gone. For once, Nicky decided to actually leave the house. He was already dressed, why bother changing? But before he opened the door, he saw a note.

"Dear Nicky, hopefully you see this, we need some groceries. I haven't been able to pick anything up, so just grab whatever you want. Just get something that's edible." Was written on it. Taped to it, was a hundred dollar bill.

"He trusts me to buy food?" He asked himself aloud. But, he just shrugged, stuck the cash in his pocket and walked out the door, down to the grocery store. Once he arrived, he grabbed a cart and began to wander the isles. He grabbed a bunch of things, but tried to keep it under a hundred.

So Nicky wandered, grabbing a couple things from each isle. Whatever he got, he got something for Rod, too. He grabbed store brand for himself, and organic for Rod. Though once he reached the candy isle, he saw a woman. She was pretty, but that's not what mattered. There was a hundred dollar bill right behind her. Nicky waddled up and grabbed it.

"Uh, ma'am?" He asked, but he stopped himself from telling her about the money. She turned around as he hid the money in his pocket. "You look very beautiful today." He said instead.

"Oh, thank you!" She replied, startled by the sudden compliment. She speed walked out of the isle before Nicky could say "you're welcome."

A hundred is quite a bit of money. And Rod has been put under a lot of stress recently. So why not buy a little something for his roommate? He grabbed some fancy imported chocolates and wandered over to the meat section as he remembered something. Rod had always loved to make Filet Mignon with Balsalmon- something or other. He made it all the time, and Nicky would just watch him. He'd done it so many times, the green puppet could remember how to make it.

Thus, he grabbed two filet mignon steaks, which were definitely over priced. "How does Rod ever pay for this stuff?" He questioned the meat as he grabbed it. Then pepper, salt, balsamic vinegar, and dry red wine. Rod always liked to have it with red potatoes and asparagus, too.

He paid for everything in his overflowing cart and began to question how he was going to get everything back home. So, he just ended up taking the cart with him. He took everything inside and shoved it into the kitchen. He then saw that he still had twenty bucks left from the trip, so he went back into town, to the whole foods market, and grabbed some fancy coffee for Rod. By the time he got back from that, it was about noon, so he grabbed some cereal and watched some cartoons for a bit.

Though, he hadn't payed much attention, cause it was already nine and he had ate a whole box of cereal. So he rushed into the kitchen and started cooking everything. He steamed up the asparagus, seasoned and baked the potatoes, and started the steak. By the time Rod returned, Nicky had the table set up.

"Nicky?" Rod asked as he entered. "Did you waste all of our food money on this?"

"You never really could take a gift, could you? I found some money when I was out shopping. We have normal food, it's just that you haven't been eating lately. So, I thought that I should make something for you!"

"Oh, um. Thank you, Nicky. It really means a lot." Rod smiled as a light blush creeped up his cheeks.

"And I got you those fancy chocolates you like so much!" Nicky grinned, presenting the big box. The blue puppets blush deepened as he pulled his roommate into a hug.

"Thank you so much! I'm sorry if I worried you. A lots been going on at work and I just can't get time to do anything anymore.

"So are you gonna eat? I'm pretty sure I made it right. You used to make it so much, it's kinda in my head now." Nicky said sheepishly as he pulled out a chair for Rod to sit on. They both sat down and ate the fancy dinner, which was made just right, as Nicky had thought.

"I'm gonna go to sleep now. You made the Filet Mignon and balsamic glaze perfectly. I never expected you could actually cook." Rod wiped his face and stood up.

"Well, I learned from the best." Nicky beamed, still sitting on his chair.

"Not the best, but better than average. Goodnight, Nicky." He flashed a grin and walked to his room.

"Sleep tight, Rod." The green puppet stood up and cleaned the kitchen and table. He even did the dishes for once. Then he went straight to sleep on the couch, as he has been.

As Nicky slept, Rod awakened at about midnight and ran straight to the bathroom. He emptied everything out of his stomach and into the toilet. The sudden change in appetite had effected him a little more than he thought. He's been going off of a meal -maybe even less- each day. The sudden change must've done something to his body. Disgusted in his current state, he took a quick shower, shaved his face clean, and went back to bed, just to wake up five hours later to go back to work.

Nicky woke up soon after his roommate left, and hopped right up off the couch again. Rod was happy, so he was happy and ready to seize the day. By seize the day, that meant lazing around all day, watching television, and eating another box of cereal.

Everything's probably going to keep going like this until Rod's back to normal. I mean, Nicky used to always look forward to spending time with his buddy, but now there is no time. But before he knew it, Rod had returned. A whole hour earlier than usual, at that.

"Hey Rod! Why are you home so early?" Nicky asked as his roommate entered.

"Ah, I just got my work done a little faster today. Tomorrow Christmas Eve and Brian are getting married, right? I took tomorrow off for it."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Your boss actually gave you time off?"

"Yeah, surprisingly." Rod replied, glancing down at the floor. But he immediately perked up at a thought. "Nicky, do you want to go to a bar with me?"

"Sure, but what brought that on?" The green puppet questioned, tilting his head to the side."I just want to relax a bit. Work's been really stressful." Rod smiled weakly, putting his stuff on the floor and heading for the door. "Are you coming?"

Nicky immidietly got up off of the couch and followed his roommate out the door and down the street, to the nearest place with alcohol that they could find.


End file.
